


In Plain Sight

by nightberrypearl



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Fluff and Angst, M/M, masquerade balls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-09 22:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20517104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightberrypearl/pseuds/nightberrypearl
Summary: “You know, truth be told, I think I really quite like that prince of ours.”“Well, isn’t that lucky for you then?” Jonghyun feels lips brush against his cheeks as the man speaks.“I think that prince of ours really quite likes you too.”





	In Plain Sight

**Author's Note:**

> Can you tell that the pictures wherein Minhyun looks like royalty, even though he isn't, for his musical is making me completely lose my mind to royal AUs :))))))))) the white shirt though.................. ungodly.
> 
> Just how long will I be a slave to Minhyun and his princely looks? Only time will tell.
> 
> Apologies if this is a choppy mess

A symphony plays in the background and yellow-tinged lights from glass chandeliers greet Jonghyun as he enters the spacious entrance hall. A passing waiter is quick to offer him a flute of champagne that he accepts as a courtesy and takes short sip of as he makes his way through the crowd that loitered around the entryway. After a few more sips he places the empty flute on a nearby table before heading deeper into the ballroom. 

He self-consciously adjusts the mask that sits on his face as he nears the central dance floor. The mask is a simple one: it’s just big enough to cover the top half of his face, showing just his eyes. The piece is white and trimmed with gold details that flow over the mask like soft brush strokes. There’s a slot on one side that might have once been used to hold a tuft of feathers up at an angle, but that has been left unused since it came into Jonghyun’s possession a few months ago. 

Jonghyun sees him the instant he reaches the edge of the dance floor. His tall stature coupled with his usual red, blue, and gold dress uniform makes the other man difficult to miss. Even from this distance, the man’s handsome features shine through despite the ornate mask he adorns. 

Jonghyun spies him talking to a red-faced man who shows signs of balding. To anyone else, the tall man might have them fooled into thinking that his conversation partner was regaling him with a riveting tale. That would be typical of those of the nobility, Jonghyun thinks, all of them would be far too self absorbed in rattling off their own spiels to notice the way the other man’s body is angled away and how his eyes flit over the rest of the ballroom as if in search of an escape. Or a certain someone. 

The man meets Jonghyun’s gaze from across the dance floor and Jonghyun smiles to himself at the way he suddenly looks ten times more awake — also something no-one but Jonghyun would be likely to notice. 

Jonghyun watches as the man turns to the stout-looking man beside him and says something curt, but undoubtedly polite, before walking away from him without another word or glance back. Jonghyun sees the abandoned man stare at his former conversation partner with wide eyes before stalking off, presumably to find another victim. 

Distracted by the actions of that other man, Jonghyun doesn’t notice the tall figure striding towards him until he’s right in front of him. 

“He’s not your type.” The man tells him matter-of-factly with a hint of amusement. 

“And how did you surmise that?” Jonghyun counters, a questioning eyebrow raised. “Maybe I quite like the pot-bellied state official type.”

The man screws up his features in a moment of thought. 

“I think past experience tells me that you don’t.” 

“Oh?” 

“Mhm.” The man hums, before taking a step further into Jonghyun’s personal space.

“Then, if you’re suddenly such an expert, what is my ‘type’?” Jonghyun challenges jokingly, craning his neck up to meet the man’s gaze. 

“I think” gentle fingers brush along Jonghyun’s jaw as the man leans in closer, “that you much prefer someone taller, someone more handsome, perhaps someone like m—”

“If you happen to meet someone who fits that description, do let me know.” Jonghyun can’t help but cut him off to tease, earning him a pinch to his waist. When a hand made his way there, Jonghyun doesn’t recall. 

The man huffs lightly, and Jonghyun feels the small puff of air fan his lips. 

“Then I don’t suppose you would be wanting to dance with me then.” The man asks, taking a step back from Jonghyun and feigning uninterest. 

Jonghyun offers him a playful smile.

“Well, I suppose I could settle for you…” He responds, placing his hand in the other man’s proffered one. 

Jonghyun sees eyes roll behind the mask the man wears before the latter leads him to the centre of the dance floor with a bow. 

The man makes sure to pull Jonghyun in close as they begin to dance and just that simple act makes Jonghyun chuckle. 

“But you know,” Jonghyun begins quietly before leaning in even closer to mutter into his partner’s ear, “truth be told, I think I really quite like that prince of ours.”

He takes pride in the way the simple statement makes the possessive hand around his waist grip him tighter.

“Well, isn’t that lucky for you then?” Jonghyun feels lips brush against his cheeks as the man speaks.

“I think that prince of ours really quite likes you too.”

The man pulls away, only keeping hold of one of Jonghyun’s hands. 

“It’s getting stuffy isn’t it? How about we go out for some air?” The man gestures to the exit with a slight tip of his head. 

“That would be lovely, lead the way,” Jonghyun dips his head into a bow, “Your Highness.”

* * *

Minhyun leads the two of them outside into the palace gardens. Here, they’re left under the watchful gaze of the moon only. The faint murmurs of the ongoing ball fade into the background as Minhyun takes them deeper into the gardens where only the cicadas dare intrude upon the silence.

They come to a stop at a small wooden bench hidden amongst the hedgerows and take a seat. The spot overlooks the grounds and from where they can only see the palace’s paddock but at this time of night, it’s unsurprisingly empty. It’s the middle of summer and the air is warm but still, they find themselves pressed against each other, sharing heat. 

A head rests on Minhyun’s shoulder and he uses the hand not wrapped around the other man’s waist to lift the head off his shoulder until he can lean forwards to press a lingering kiss to a waiting pair of plush lips. 

“I’ve missed you.” Minhyun confesses against those same soft lips, “I even almost asked them to make the monthly ball bi-weekly.” He continues, eliciting a short giggle from his companion that gets buried in the crook of Minhyun’s neck. 

“I’ve missed you too, Your Highness.” 

Bright eyes stare up into his own and Minhyun feels himself grow warm under the unconcealed emotions that shine through them. 

“Enough with the formalities.” He chides, knocking their foreheads together lightly before leaning away somewhat. “With you, I want to be just Minhyun.”

“Well, if you’re ‘just Minhyun’, what if I like being the prince’s knight in shining armour?” 

“You could still be my knight, or…” Minhyun pauses, wondering if he should continue, “Or… you could also be just yourself — whoever that is.” He finally decides to say.

The man sighs and tries to free himself from Minhyun’s embrace, but the prince is adamant not to let him.

“I know, I know.” Minhyun says as the other looks as if he’s about to say something, effectively cutting him off. “No names.”

He tries not to sound disappointed but as with every time in the past that he’s brought this up, his attempt is a resounding fail.

“I’m sorry.” Comes the soft reply. 

Minhyun shakes his head. 

“It’s okay. I should be sorry for bringing this up again when you made your rules clear at the start.”

At his words, the man in his arms stops trying to pull away and finally rests his head back on Minhyun’s shoulder.

“And if I have to keep referring to you in my head as ‘my knight’ then so be it.” Minhyun adds as he strokes over a head full of dark hair.

“I like that;” the words come muffled against Minhyun’s shoulder, “being yours.” The knight clarifies. 

Glistening eyes meet his gaze and the bashful smile that graces those pretty lips that he’s grown rather familiar with draw Minhyun in closer and closer until they’re meeting again in a tender exchange of kisses. 

Kissing him is intoxicating, Minhyun thinks. The softness of his lips, the taste of his tongue, every gasp that Minhyun is able to coax from his knight, all of it sends Minhyun into a heady haze.

Minhyun doesn’t know how long it is until they pull away. He keeps his knight’s face cradled between his hands. He marvels at the man who he only knows by a pseudonym they established on their first night together; this man whose face he has never seen in its entirety; this man who Minhyun has slowly been giving his heart to piece by piece from the moment of their first meeting. 

Their only meetings at these monthly masquerade balls are barely enough to satiate the desire and the longing he has for his knight. He wishes that he could hold the other close and never have to let go. He wishes that he could go to sleep every night and wake up every morning to a kiss from his knight. He wishes he didn’t have to pretend day after day that he wasn’t missing a part of him that he had long since given to his knight for safe-keeping. 

His thumb smooths over the tanned skin of his love’s cheek. The action causes his thumb to catch on the delicate mask that sits upon his face, bumping it askew slightly, and its owner rushes to fix it. 

“Not even just once?” Minhyun half-heartedly tries again, “even if I knew your face, I might never even see it by chance on the street. Without a name, I could never find you anyway.”

His knight shakes his head with a humourless smile, pulling away from Minhyun’s grasp to look away into the distance. 

“I don’t want to risk it.” His knight says after a pause.

“Would me knowing really be so bad?” Minhyun asks.

“If you knew, you might never want to see me again.” He insists, turning back to Minhyun. 

Minhyun considers his strange words. He can’t really imagine many plausible situations in which he wouldn’t want to see his knight ever again. 

“Are you a wanted criminal?”

His knight snorts at that and Minhyun grins at the subsequent smile that returns to his face. 

“No, I haven’t committed any crimes—” 

“—Except for stealing my heart.” Minhyun can’t help but quip, complete with a roguish smirk that makes his knight roll his eyes. 

“Funny.” He drawls, unamused, “but you don’t mean that.”

“But I do mean that.”

His knight looks at him with a hint of skepticism. He must seem something in Minhyun’s expression which eventually wipes that away, though, and replaces it with a blush that Minhyun can just about make out through the darkness.

“Then… Do you trust me? Can I trust you?”

It doesn’t take any thought for Minhyun to tell him yes, to both questions unequivocally. 

“Then close your eyes. Don’t open them again until I say.”

Minhyun nods and follows the order, closing his eyes and letting his other senses fill in the gaps. He hears a slight rustling in front of him before careful hands reach for his own. He lets his hands be lifted up and led to where they’re rested against his love’s face.

“The mask if off, but don’t open your eyes.” The knight whispers, “You can touch, and try to see with your hands.”

Minhyun’s heart thumps erratically knowing that he’s being trusted this much to not succumb to such a great temptation. He wants to, so badly, open his eyes and see, just this one time, but he knows that if he did that, he really wouldn’t ever see his knight again. 

He slowly begins to trail his fingers over smooth skin and not before long, he shuffles closer to place kisses in the wake of his hands— one to the tip of his nose, one to his forehead, and another two over both eyelids. Once he’s done, he pulls back and rests their foreheads together, still with his eyes closed.

“Beautiful.” Minhyun praises breathlessly.

He feels his knight exhale softly before he pushes their lips together chastely once then twice. He leans back before Minhyun can meet him for a third and there’s a brief moment of quiet before Minhyun hears a faint voice tell him he can open his eyes once more. 

He opens his eyes and they focus immediately on his knight, mask back on his face, and looking at Minhyun with eyes that perfectly reflect the silver glow of the waning moon.

“I’m sorry that’s all I can give you.” His voice full of remorse as he apologises.

Minhyun reaches forwards to take his love’s small hands into his own.

“I’m grateful for anything that you’re willing to give me.” Minhyun assures him, “of course I would hope that one day, I might be able to look upon your face with my own eyes and call out to you with your real name, but until the day you choose to share those things with me, I can be content with this much.”

He finishes with a lingering touch of his lips to his knight’s hands.

“I—” The man blinks at him, slowly finding his words. “I don’t deserve your lenience, nor your generosity.”

Minhyun holds his gaze, hoping that his eyes can convey every bit of sincerity that he feels with his next words.

“You do. You deserve all of it and so much more.”

* * *

Jonghyun wakes up the next morning with the sun streaming in through the sole window of his room and into his eyes. He grumbles incoherently as he flings an arm over his face to shield his eyes from the light. 

He smiles to himself as he slowly sits up in his bed. His eyes flit around his tiny room and linger on his masquerade mask that sits atop a neat pile of his formal clothes. Just looking at the mask makes him feel the phantom pressure of Minhyun’s lips upon his, reminiscent of the goodbye kiss Minhyun had given him at the palace gate after the ball was long over and all the other guests had already left. 

Jonghyun had walked away from the palace until he was sure the darkness concealed him enough to turn around and watch the prince’s retreating form. Then, with the prince safely ensconced within the palace walls, Jonghyun had finally stepped out of the shadows and headed back towards the palace grounds.

“Jonghyun?” A sudden call from a deep voice startles Jonghyun out of his reverie. 

Jonghyun stands from his bed and turns to the door just as the head of the stable master pokes through his doorway.

“Morning.” He greets congenially, “I’m going to need you to get Apollo ready; someone will be down for him shortly.”

“Yes, Sir.” Jonghyun makes sure to pat down his mess of hair until he deems it acceptable before heading out of his room and down into the main stables to where he finds Apollo patiently waiting for him.

He’s just finishing up and brushing through the man of the palomino stallion when he hears footsteps approaching from outside.

He spares a quick glance to the doorway as the visitor enters and Jonghyun has to keep himself from startling too badly at the sight of the prince standing in the doorway. 

Jonghyun steps away from Apollo and hastens into a low bow as the prince approaches him.

“Your Highness.” He greets hastily. Jonghyun feels his palms begin to sweat and he wonders if his heartbeat is loud enough for the prince to hear too. 

He was fully aware that Apollo was the prince’s horse — that may or may not have factored into the reason Apollo got just a little more attention form Jonghyun compared to the other horses — but never did the prince come down to the stables personally.

Jonghyun stands from the bow, but keeps his head dipped low. To the prince, he probably looks like just another stable boy too timid to look at His Royal Highness directly after such a sudden visit. Never would he suspect that Jonghyun was in fact in the midst of panic with his greatest secret hanging in the balance of being discovered by the last person he would want to have it revealed to. 

“Is Apollo ready?” The prince inquires politely.

“Y-yes he is, Your Highness.” Jonghyun rushes to hand over the reigns to the prince before retreating back to a safe distance. 

“Thank you… Sorry, I don’t know your name.” He prompts.

Jonghyun swallows drily and replies, hoping that his voice isn’t as shaky as it feels.

“It’s ‘Jonghyun’, Sir.”

“Well, thank you Jonghyun.”

Jonghyun’s breath catches in his throat as the prince enunciates his name so clearly as he turns to leave with Apollo. 

Jonghyun finally allows himself to look up once he hears the prince’s footsteps grow faint once more. He watches discretely from behind the stable doors as Minhyun climbs upon Apollo’s back and takes off into the wind without another glance back. 

Jonghyun can finally relax and breath once Minhyun’s figure fades into the distance.

“And this is why you can never know.” Jonghyun whispers to himself, letting the wind sweep away his words, “because like this, I’m nothing to you.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> So. How was that ending? :))))))))) 
> 
> For those so inclined, come scream at me here:  
[Twitter](https://twitter.com/nightberrypearl)  
[Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/nightberrypearl)
> 
> or in the comments :D


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